BUENOS AIRES – Police arrested a man suspected of concealing 10,000 milliliters (345 ounces) of ketamine in television sets in the northern Argentine border province of Formosa, authorities said on Thursday.

The drug had been poured into 200 vials and placed inside the cathode-ray tubes of television sets that were being transported Wednesday night inside a Buenos Aires-bound bus’s luggage compartment, according to a bulletin issued by the Argentine National Gendarmerie (a border guard force) and the Security Ministry.

The police noticed that the TV sets were excessively heavy and – after identifying the owner and with witnesses present – proceeded to take them apart and find the vials.

Ketamine, a chemical substance that produces hallucinations and can cause severe nervous system damage, typically enters the black market in liquid form but is later baked into a powder by dealers before being sold on the street.

A federal court in Formosa issued an order to hold the suspect in custody and confiscate the chemical substance.

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